Graphs and figures dead. Data visualisation way of the future

30 April 2014

Tomorrow's business leaders and decision makers will no
longer be confronted by graphs and spreadsheets of figures thanks to a Deakin
University and SAS research collaboration which will harness the power of big
data and visualisation technology.

The SAS Visual Analytics Collaboratory which will be housed
at the University's Elgar Road Campus in the Faculty of Business and Law, was
opened officially by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane den Hollander. SAS –
the world leader in business analytics software and services – arranged for its
Visual Analytics solution to be demonstrated live at the opening.

Deakin University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane den
Hollander, said the digital age had changed forever the way we did business,
thought about education and communicated. 'Five years ago, we had only just
begun to hear about apps, we had never twittered, Google was just another
search engine and graphs and charts were at heart just two dimensional',
Professor den Hollander said.

'Visual analytics not only has the potential to make complex
data understandable to everyone, it makes it eminently interesting and engaging
and absolutely relevant to individual business needs. ''It is an outstanding
example of innovative and creative researchers working with our industry
partners to create the jobs of the future and push the digital envelope to
create something which benefits both parties as well as our students.'

SAS Australia and New Zealand managing director David Bowie
said SAS was delighted to be able to collaborate with Deakin University in this
innovative way. 'Without projects of this type and vision, there will not be
enough skilled people to manage the exponential growth in Big Data that is now
under way', he said.

He added that SAS was firmly committed to helping ensure
communities would have the skills to take advantage of the values embedded in
Big Data, for both business productivity and the common good. Deakin University
offers a Masters of Business Analytics to develop business analytics
professionals and bridge the big data skills gap.

'SAS is a key contributor to this program, supplying both
analytical tools to be used by students during the course as well as adjunct
lecturers, sharing SAS' industry leading best practice and insights', Mr Bowie
said. Lead researcher in the new centre, Associate Professor Jacob Cybulski
from the University's School of Information and Business Analytics showed
attendees how SAS could enable data to be visualised in a walkthrough,
immersive 3D environment.

'People have so much data at their disposal nowadays which
is more complex than can be captured easily on a spreadsheet and shown in
graphs', he said. Associate
Professor Cybulski said that by using gaming, motion capture and 3D
visualisation technology, as well as, the analytics software donated by SAS,
the researchers were experimenting with different metaphorical environments
where people would be able to 'enter' and easily work with the data.' This
approach is used in engineering and architecture, but not so much in the
business world mainly because there hasn't been a standard and uniform approach
to representing the data', he said. Associate Professor Cybulski said 20 years
ago first users of Excel questioned whether charts and graphs were needed.

'In 20 years' time as gamers and people familiar with gaming
technology become decision makers, their confidence will be with this
technology rather than spreadsheets and pie charts', he said. Associate
Professor Cybulski said the researchers had been experimenting with a range of
environments including one (see animation here ) where the participant was able
to move across the data which is represented in the form of terrain, with peaks
and troughs in the form of hills and valleys.

'As you walk across or around the data, you can place
markers, plot paths and construct tours, the locations of interest in the 'data
terrain' which you would want to explore more fully,' he said. 'Ultimately we
want to put people in the data, have them moving around and use motion tracking
technology such as Kinect. Instead of using a mouse and keyboard, they will use
their hand gestures to control what is happening in the data terrain.' Associate Professor
Cybulski said the researchers would not be sequestered away in a laboratory
hidden from view.

'In the centre of the faculty building, the massive TV
screen will show students, staff and visitors, the researchers at work', he
said. 'We will be inviting students and casual people walking in to interact
with the software and the experimental environments we create and to collect
their feedback on our research.'

'We are aiming our work at people who are not experts in
stats and computer science.' For more information: